September 2016

The Nampa Board of Trustees meets the second Tuesday of the month. Below is a summary of the Sept. 13, 2016 meeting. The next regular meeting will be Oct. 11, 2016.

WORK SESSION

Review of Monitoring Process

Chairman Mike Fuller said based on discussion at the August retreat on policy governance the Board would try a different process for gathering trustee comments on monitoring reports, which are used to evaluate the superintendent. The process also would be used to gather board suggestions for policy revisions.

Under the process, trustees would receive a monitoring report at its regular meeting and then submit comments and make suggested revisions online after the meeting. This would give Board members time to review the information and respond.

The comments would be provided in a response document for trustees to review at the next meeting to identify which comments and which revisions would be adopted by the Board.

Assessment Administrator Anita Christianson reviewed the key findingsof the district’s annual monitoring report which include a review of SAT, ISAT, Idaho Reading Indicator and other assessment data. A recording of the 30-minute presentation with the Board’s questions and administration answers is available here.

Administration conclusions were:

We made progress towards meeting state averages in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

We made progress in decreasing the percentage of students scoring “below standard” in ELA with mixed results in mathematics.

We made adequate progress towards increasing the percentage of students scoring “above standard” in ELA and math.

We did not make adequate progress in closing the “achievement gap” for historically underachieving groups.

We did not make adequate progress towards increasing the percentage of students making a full year’s growth.

This year we gathered baseline data with the new ACCESS 2.0 assessment for students with Limited English Proficiency.

CALL TO ORDER

Trustees recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the district’s mission and vision statements.

No changes were made to the published agenda and it was unanimously approved by the Board.

Public Comments

David

David Tjaden, Idaho Education Association, on innovation schools shared concerns about the innovation schools agreement for Union High School.

Trustee Reports

No reports were made.

Superintendent Update

Pathways Charter Authorization

Jill Wells presented the petition for the proposed Pathways Charter School. Superintendent Peterson told the board the petition will change and be replaced with a revised version after the organizers finalize the document to reflect the State Department of Education’s legal sufficiency review, which is under way. Ms. Wells told the Board that the focus of Pathways is to serve students who are disconnected from the current school system. Pathways offers a comprehensive program for students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out. Ms. Wells said the school’s goal is to serve 300 students in grades 9 through 12. Superintendent Peterson said the district annually loses 250 to 300 high school students.

Trustees voted 5-0 to acknowledge receipt of the petition and to waive a Sept. 1 deadline for receiving the petitions. The next step is for school to submit its final petition and the Board hold a public hearing. The Board would need to approve the charter in December for the school to open in the 2017-18 school year.

Non-governance Policy Adoption

The Board and Superintendent reviewed the process of adopting administrative or management board policies. Those policies would be brought by the administration to ensure the Board and district are in legal compliance. Policies would be listed on the Consent Agenda for first and second (and final) readings. If three trustees agree the policy can be removed from the Consent Agenda.

Regular Monthly Meeting Time

The Board discussed whether it should change the start time of its regular meeting from 7:30 p.m. to an earlier time but took no action.

Union High School Innovation Agreement

Superintendent Peterson discussed a revised innovation school agreement for Union High School and the Board. The agreement was revised to reflect guidance from the Office of the State Board of Education. Superintendent Peterson reported that he, lawmakers, and lobbyists met with staff at the Office of the State Board of Education (OSBE) to discuss the agreements after OSBE initially rejected the agreement as noncompliant. The innovation school was later approved under the Board’s Consent Agenda. Trustees asked several questions about the school’s budget, graduation requirements, management, and other topics.

Superintendent Peterson reported that the other innovation school agreement – Treasure Valley Leadership Academy – will be revised when staff members are hired in a couple of months.

Powering Up PLCs

Dr. Nicole MacTavish reviewed the professional development that was held for district teachers during three days before the start of the school. On Aug. 16, 17 and 19, more than 900 certificated employees attended three days of Professional Development tied to the district’s continuous improvement plan.

One-third of participants took an online evaluation – 81% said the professional development was beneficial.

Trustee McGourty asked about how the supplemental levy was being accounted for in the budget fund codes in the reports. Trustee Simpsons asked about negative balances in the report and Randy Dewey reported that these are routine and will be adjusted when state funding is finalized.

Other

Lunch prices -- Superintendent Peterson told trustees that the district will be bringing a lunch price increase to the Board for approval later in the fall. The increase is required by the USDA to ensure equity in prices charged for full price lunches compared to the amount the district is reimbursed for free and reduced priced lunch. The change in price is likely to occur in January.

Human Resources Director Rachelle Armstrong shared that the district’s partnership with Teach for America (TFA) was going well. The six teachers hired last year in collaboration with TFA remain employed in the district in their same positions. This year, three additional teachers were hired working with TFA.

Revisions will be made and brought back for the Board’s review and approval in October.

ADJOURNMENT

Nampa Education Association Comments

President Shannon O’Donnell shared results of a survey from about 100 members about a negotiations proposal to provide certified staff in schools the flexibility to adjust prep time, lunch time, and professional learning time. The survey showed little support for the proposal.

Superintendent Comments

Superintendent Peterson did not comment.

Trustee Comments

Trustee Stauffer shared that she appreciated the retreat and the Chairman Fullers recent Facebook Live linkage effort.

Trustee Otten reminded the group of the Idaho School Board Association’s Region 3 meeting Sept. 20

Board Assessment of Meeting

Trustee Stauffer was assigned the evaluation this month and the written version will be included in October’s consent agenda.

Upcoming Meetings

October 11, 2016 7:30 p.m. with a 6:30 p.m. work session.

Executive Session

The Board adjourned into executive session for citing Idaho Code Section §74-206 (1) (c) to acquire an interest in real property which is not owned by a public agency